The pause button has been hit on the recent Michigan football tradition stared under Jim Harbaugh.
In 2017, Harbaugh and the Wolverines traveled to Italy as part of its spring football practice. The following year, the program went to France. This past year, it was South Africa that was the program’s spring destination.
This year, Michigan football had been expected to take another trip abroad. That destination had yet to be determined. As it turns out, a determination won’t be necessary as, due to fears over the coronavirus outbreak, U-M has decided to nix its 2020 plans for the team to travel abroad.
“The football team will not be taking an international trip this spring due to the health concerns around the world, most notably coronavirus,” a Michigan football spokesperson stated. “In lieu of traveling abroad, as the team has done the last three years, the players are expected to participate in community projects in the Ann Arbor area,” the Detroit Free Press wrote.
And for those unfamiliar with the coronavirus? From NBC News:The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that there have been two cases of person-to-person transmission in the U.S., and that the virus can be spread via respiratory droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. The CDC says on its website that the virus is not currently spreading in the U.S.
The majority of deaths linked to COVID-19 have been in mainland China, where the outbreak began. There have been 12 deaths in Iran, eight in South Korea, seven in Italy, and others elsewhere, according to public health officials.
In mainland China, the national health commission on Tuesday morning local time reported a total of 2,663 deaths linked to COVID-19.
The epicenter of the outbreak has been in Hubei Province, where the city of Wuhan is located. There have been more than 77,600 confirmed cases in mainland China, according to the national health commission.